Device for smoothing and/or drying items of clothing

ABSTRACT

A device for smoothing and/or drying items of clothing, comprising an external, inflatable body provided with an external trunk and an external sleeve which is arranged on the external trunk, and an internal inflatable body which is located on the external inflatable body and which is provided with an internal trunk and an internal sleeve which is arranged on the internal trunk. In order to obtain an improved position between the internal sleeve and the external sleeve, the distal end of the inner sleeve is connected to the distal end of the external sleeve by means of a connecting device.

The invention relates to a device for smoothing and/or drying items of clothing, in particular shirts, by means of an inflatable body.

DE 100 62 672 discloses a device for smoothing and drying items of clothing, in particular shirts, comprising an external inflatable body and an internal inflatable body located therein. The internal inflatable body can be detachably connected to the external inflatable body at points or along a line.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a generic device for smoothing and/or drying items of clothing, in particular shirts, which is simple to use and handle.

This object is solved by the features of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments and further developments of the invention are obtained from the dependent claims.

A device for smoothing and/or drying items of clothing, in particular shirts, is provided with an external inflatable body which comprises an external trunk and an external sleeve arranged on the external trunk, and an internal inflatable body located in the external inflatable body which comprises an internal trunk and an internal sleeve arranged on the internal trunk. The following can be achieved by connecting the distal end of the internal sleeve to the distal end of the external sleeve by means of a connecting device.

If the internal sleeve of the internal inflatable body is sometimes displaced or twisted with respect to the external sleeve of the external inflatable body when using the ironing dummy, and as a consequence, the external sleeve of the external inflatable body is not inflated or only partially inflated during the next ironing process, as a result of the inflation of the internal body, the internal sleeve is pulled by the connecting device into the correct position inside the external sleeve and positioned. Thus, if the internal sleeve should slip and occupy an incorrect position when changing the material for ironing, it is always automatically pulled back into the correct position again as a result of the next ironing process. Even when the inflatable body is clamped on the device for smoothing and/or drying again after a washing or cleaning process, the internal sleeve is always correctly positioned in the external sleeve through the presence of the connecting device so that tedious manual threading and positioning of the internal sleeve in the external sleeve can be dispensed with.

A device for smoothing and/or drying items of clothing which is easy to handle and simple to use is thus provided.

Since the connecting device is a detachable connecting device which is preferably detachably connected at the connection point to the internal sleeve and/or to the external sleeve, the external inflatable body can easily be separated from the internal inflatable body. For example, after a washing process the internal inflatable body can easily be connected to the external inflatable body by means of the detachable connecting device, wherein no attention needs to be paid to the exact positioning of the internal sleeve in the external sleeve when connecting the internal inflatable body to the external inflatable body.

Since the connecting device is at a distance from a centre line of the internal and external sleeve, even a twisted position, wherein the internal sleeve is twisted with respect to the external sleeve, can be reliably returned to the correct position when the inflatable body is inflated during the next ironing process. It is particularly advantageous to arrange the connecting device in the lower section of the internal and external sleeve to better eliminate twisting of the internal sleeve with respect to the external sleeve as a result of the own weight of the connecting device.

Since the internal sleeve is shorter than the external sleeve by a predetermined length L, and since the connecting device has a length L to bridge the distance between the internal sleeve and the external sleeve, the connecting device serves as an advantageous tensioning means to always reliably accurately position the internal sleeve in the external sleeve.

Since the connecting device is fixed at the front end of the internal sleeve and since the connecting device is fixed at the front end of the external sleeve, the connecting device is in each case connected to the internal inflatable body or to the external inflatable body at locations where no material for ironing, in particular, a shirt is adjacent. This avoids the connecting point between the internal and the external sleeve pressing against the material for ironing.

Since the connecting device is embodied as a flexible part, preferably as a strip of material or a cord, a simple connecting device is provided.

By providing a weight at the end section of the external sleeve, a weight preferably embodied as a cuff tensioner, the internal sleeve is already pre-positioned in the external sleeve through the weight or the cuff tensioner by means of the connecting device.

Further details, features and advantages of the invention are obtained from the following description of an exemplary embodiment of a device according to the invention for smoothing and/or drying items of clothing, in particular shirts, with reference to the drawing.

In the figures:

FIG. 1 is a schematic overall view of a device for smoothing and/or drying items of clothing, in particular shirts;

FIG. 2 is a view of the right half of the inflatable body of the device for smoothing and/or dying items of clothing according to FIG. 1.

According to FIG. 1, a device for smoothing and/or drying items of clothing, in particular shirts, comprises a frame I on which an external inflatable body 2 is disposed. The external inflatable body 2 has the form of the item of clothing to the smoothed and/or dried or the material for ironing, which in the present case can be a shirt, a jacket or another item of clothing which corresponds to a human upper body.

An air duct 3 containing a heating device 4 and a fan 5 is located in the frame 1.

It can be seen from FIG. 2 that inside the external inflatable body 2 a further internal inflatable body 6 is located inside the external inflatable body 2. The internal inflatable body 6 substantially has the same shape as the external inflatable body 2. The external inflatable body 2 comprises an external trunk 7 and an external sleeve 8. The internal inflatable body 6 comprises an internal trunk 9 and an internal sleeve 10.

The fan 5 produces a hot air flow 11 in the air duct 3 which is initially introduced into the internal inflatable body 6 via an opening 12. The air flow 11 is introduced in the external trunk and the external sleeve 8 of the external inflatable body 2 by means of a pre-determined air permeability of the material of the internal inflatable body 6. The front end of the internal sleeve has an opening 13 to introduce the air flow 11 preferably into the external sleeve 8.

A constriction 14 is provided in the connecting region between the internal trunk 9 and the internal sleeve 10 and also in the connecting region between the external trunk 7 and the external sleeve 8 which makes it possible to achieve better and automatic matching of the internal inflatable body 6 and the external inflatable body 2 to different clothing sizes.

The internal sleeve 10 is shorter than the external sleeve 8 by the length L. Located between the front end of the internal sleeve 9 and the front end of the external sleeve 8 is a connecting device 15 which connects the distal end of the internal sleeve 10 to the distal end of the external sleeve 8. The connecting device 15 is embodied as a flexible part, preferably as a strip of material or a cord. The connecting device 15 is embodied as a detachable connecting device which is preferably detachably connected to the internal sleeve and/or the external sleeve at the connection points 16. The connecting device 15 is preferably connected at the connection points 16 by means of a snap fastener connection or by means of a button and buttonhole connection. However, any other detachable connecting device is possible.

The connecting device 15 is located at a distance from the centre line 17 of the internal and external sleeves 10, 8. The connecting device is preferably located in the lower section of the internal and external sleeve 10, 8.

The length of the connecting device 15 corresponds to the length L and therefore the length difference between the internal sleeve 10 and the external sleeve 8. Furthermore, a weight 18 in the form of a cuff tensioner is located at the end section of the external sleeve.

If the internal inflatable body 6 and the external inflatable body 2 are mounted anew on the frame 1, for example, after a washing process, merely the connecting device 15 in the form of a strip of material needs to be connected between the connection points 16 when mounting the external inflatable body 2 over the internal inflatable body 6. It is not necessary to exactly position the internal sleeve 10 in the external sleeve 8 since when the internal and the external inflatable body 6 and 2 are first inflated, the external sleeve 8 is stretched and automatically pulls the internal sleeve 10 into the correct position by means of the connecting device 15. It can also happen that when changing the item of clothing or shirt to be dried and smoothed, the internal sleeve 10 is incorrectly positioned with respect to the external sleeve 8. If the next item of clothing is then pulled over the external inflatable body 2 and the external sleeve 8 thereby inserted in the sleeve of the item of clothing, the weight 8 in the form of a cuff tensioner helps the external sleeve 8 to fall better through the sleeve of the item of clothing and pre-positions the internal sleeve 10 with respect to the external sleeve 8 as a result of this process, since the force of the weight 18 exerts a pull on the internal sleeve 10 by means of the positioning device 15 and thus positions it correctly. When the inflatable bodies 2 and 6 are inflated after pulling on an item of clothing to be dried, the external sleeve 8 stretches and exerts a pull on the internal sleeve by means of the connecting device 15 so that the internal sleeve 10 is optimally positioned. 

1-9. (canceled)
 10. A device for smoothing items of clothing, comprising: a frame; an external inflatable body supported by the frame and including an external trunk and an external sleeve arranged on the external trunk and having an external distal end; an internal inflatable body supported by the frame and disposed within the external inflatable body, the internal inflatable body including an internal trunk and an internal sleeve arranged on the internal trunk and having an internal distal end; and a connecting device connected to the internal distal end of the internal inflatable body and the external distal end of the external inflatable body.
 11. The device according to claim 10, wherein the connecting device includes a detachable connecting device detachably connected at connection points to at least one of the internal sleeve and the external sleeve.
 12. The device according to claim 10, further comprising a center line extending through the internal and external sleeves and the connecting device being located at a distance from the center line.
 13. The device according to claim 12, wherein the connecting device is located in the lower section of the internal and the external sleeve below the center line.
 14. The device according to claim 10, further comprising a pre-determined length between the internal distal end of the internal inflatable body and the external distal end of the external inflatable body and the connecting device having a length being substantially the same as the pre-determined length.
 15. The device according to claim 10, wherein the connecting device is fixed at the front end of the internal sleeve and that the connecting device is connected at the front end of the external sleeve.
 16. The device according to claim 10, wherein the connecting device is made from a flexible material.
 17. The device according to claim 10, wherein the connecting device is made from a flexible and elastic cord material.
 18. The device according to claim 10, further comprising a weight disposed adjacent the external distal end of the external sleeve.
 19. The device according to claim 18, wherein the weight includes a cuff tensioner. 